Top-ranked Tai Tzu-ying won a dramatic cliffhanger women’s badminton HSBC World Tour Finals on Sunday, blocking reigning Olympic champion Carolina Marin’s bid for a hat-trick of titles in three weeks.
Marin beat the Taiwanese 26-year-old two weeks in a row during the previous Yonex and Toyota Thailand Open tournament finals.
But the Spaniard had a shaky start Sunday as Tai exploited holes in her defence, mounting a successful comeback in the later stages and winning the opener 21-14.
Marin was loud and fiesty in her verbal celebrations and a visibly annoyed Tai soon found her own voice.
The pair also played mind games over shuttlecock changes.
In the second game Tai dominated early and…
